Tuesday, March 8, 2011

緋色の囁き

Beingrelatedtotheprinciple's familytreeandthereforetakenfrom her adoptiveparents, IzumiSaekobecomes a transferstudentofthereputableSeishinGirls' Academyandstartsliving in itsdorm. Her roommateTakatoriKeiseemslike a kindpersontogetalongwith, butKeiherselfthinksitwouldbebetterforSaekotonotgetinvolvedwith her, leaving her withthemysteriousstatement "I'm a witch" beforesheisfoundburnedtodeath in a forbiddenroomofthedormwhereanothergirldiedtheexactsameway 35 yearsago. Fromthatnightonfearandsuspicionprevailamongthestudentsandwhat was regardedbytheteachersaspossiblesuicidefindsitscontinuance in clearmurdersafterwards. ThescarletwhispercrawlingupfromSaeko's forgotteninnerselfand her continuoussleepwalkingandstrangedreamsmake her doubtherself. Mightsheactuallybetheculprit...?

Hiironosasayakidraws a littlelessfromthemansionfactorbut still makesperfectuseofthesameatmosphereand setting as in Suspiria. Ayatsujidoes so bytherepetitiveandstrikinguseofvividcolorsandlushsoundscapedescriptions, reminiscentofGoblin's minimalist progressive rockcompositionsforArgento's moviesthatalmostevoke a stateoftrance, just asArgento's useoflusciouscolors in hissceneries. WhatdiffersthoughisthatwhileSuspiriaexplainedprettymuchnothinglogicallyandstaysonoverallsupernaturalground, thisnovelstartshavingexactthesamemysteriousanduncomfortablesituationlike in themovie, buttheninsteadofdivingdeeperanddeeperintoabsurditybecomesclearerwitheachchapterandeachfactthereadergainsalongthedevelopment. Thisgrantsinsightintoprettymuch all importantcharacters' mindsandbackgroundsand also eventuallymakesthisbook a fairlydecentwhodunnit. Overall youcould also sayAyatsujicombinedkeyaspectsofSuspiriaandProfondoRosso, thelatterevenbeingnamedSuspiria 2duetotheformerbeingthatsuccessfulandpopular in Japan. DeepRed, asit was calledinternationally, evenfeaturedwhatyoucouldcall a narrativetrick in filmedformwhichcould just aswellbeentakenoutofoneofAyatsuji's novels...

FurthermoreyouseeanotherinfluenceofAyatsuji in thiswork. In UmezuKazuo's stories, youalwayshavesomekindof real socialproblemdepicted in a totallygrotesqueandexorbitantwaywhichwouldbeunimaginable in realitybutthereader still feels a connectionsomewherethatmakesthatcreepyworldsimilartoours. Andthisisexactlywhathappens in thisnovelaswell. Oneofthemainthemes in thisbookisIjime (japanesedefinitionofbullying) andwhilemysterynovelsandhorrormovieswithschoolsettingsarestaplesnowadays, whenthisnovel was published (1988) thisproblemitselfaswellasresearchonitwerefairlytopical. Apart fromthatthough, thisisnottheonlysimilaritytothehorrorgenre. Thisnovelisbothmysteryandhorror, becauseevenwhentheculprit's identityisexplainedthere still remainsthischunkofunexplainable, irrational madnessandabsurditythatstaysveiledevenaftertheendofthebook. Thisreallyworksbothgenres' waysbut I definitelyrecommendthisas a suspenseorhorrornovelforthoseinterested in havingtheirsettingsexploredtothe last bit, sincethisbookcertainlydoesnotfeaturefancytricksorinexplicableseeminglyimpossiblecrimes. Thisreadsmorelike a giallomoviewithitsloadsoflushdescriptionsandtenseatmospherewhereyoucanguesstheculpritneartheendifyoudidnotfallfortheallowedlysolidred herrings.

In theend I just wanttopointoutthatthisinfluenceisnotthatsurprising, sincegiallosimplymeansyellow, which also was thetrademarkcolorofpulpfictionmagazines in Italy, whichagainamongothersfeaturedauthorslikeAgathaChristie, ElleryQueenorRaymondChandler... gofigurethetransculturalspiral.